Lady Raiders drop a 13-inning heartbreaker to EAC rival Warriors

It was not a fun day to keep track of the scorebook on Friday afternoon. With sole possession of the Eastern Athletic Conference softball title on the line, Somerset Berkley fell to Coyle-Cassidy 7-6 in their 13-inning marathon at Ashton Field.

By Connor Berube

The Herald News, Fall River, MA

By Connor Berube

Posted May. 18, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 18, 2013 at 6:01 PM

By Connor Berube

Posted May. 18, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 18, 2013 at 6:01 PM

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It was not a fun day to keep track of the scorebook on Friday afternoon.

With sole possession of the Eastern Athletic Conference softball title on the line, Somerset Berkley fell to Coyle-Cassidy 7-6 in their 13-inning marathon at Ashton Field.

With the contest knotted at six runs apiece in the sixth inning, the two teams kept spectators on the edge of their seats, exchanging zeroes for the next six frames. Raiders pitchers Kelly Murphy and Melissa Soleiman shared throwing duties on the circle the first seven, until Ashley Truman took the helm in the top of the eighth. The SB senior tossed six scoreless until the Warriors (14-3 overall) made a statement in the top of the 13th.

Kirsten Caporelli was ruled safe on an infield single, which set the stage for junior clean-up hitter Brooke Gubala, who had already knocked in three. The Coyle first baseman sent a go-ahead line drive double into the left field gap to plate the eventual game-winning run.

“She got a good piece of the ball and found a hole,” said C-C head coach Russ Hunt.

The Raiders (10-8 overall) quietly went 3-up-and-3-down in the bottom half of the inning. The contest took approximately three hours to play as both teams finish with a 6-2 league record, making them EAC co-champions.

“We battled the entire game,” said Raiders head coach Sally Gamache. “The girls got themselves in and out of tough innings and never gave up.”

While there was tight pitching in extras, neither team could hold a lead the first six frames.

In the bottom of the first, the Raiders produced a trio of runs, as the first five hitters reached base. Danielle DeSouza ripped an RBI single, Kayla Allen drew a bases-loaded walk, and Danielle Silva brought home another on a groundball to short.

But C-C matched the Raiders with three runs of their own in the third when Caporelli put the Warriors on the board with an RBI groundout and Gubala hit a two-run double to center that clanked off the fence.

SB grabbed three runs over a four-inning period (two RBI base hits from Silva and one from Gil Emond) only to have the Warriors counter C-C’s Stephanie Skiba, Korie McDonald, and Gubala all drove in runs on groundball outs.